King Philip Walpole Youth Hockey is a non-profit USA Hockey-registered community hockey organization for boys and girls from Norfolk, Plainville, Walpole and Wrentham, with a tradition dating back more than 40 years.

Ask any hockey coach what skill a player should work on and the answer almost always will be skating. Ask any skating coach how to do that, and the answer almost always will be improved skating technique and stride fundamentals.

In our continued efforts to offer more options for our players to improve, King Philip Walpole Youth Hockey is introducing small-group skating technique sessions with two experienced skating coaches. There is no better way to improve as a hockey player than by becoming a better skater, but not enough time is spent working on stride and fundamental skating skills.

Joanna Zehme and Dina Volpicelli will offer small-group instruction on the fundamentals of the proper stride, including posture, balance, stability, rhythm and strength, which translate to better power and speed. Already a strong skater? They will fine-tune your stride to make sure it is as efficient as possible.

A free introductory session will be offered at 8 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, at Franklin Veterans Arena. The introduction will be limited to 40 skaters, so if you are interested, let me know; skates, gloves and a helmet are required.

Each 50-minute session will be limited to 16 skaters, broken into groups of similar skill and age, will cost $15 and will include a 25-minute instructional group and 25 minutes of practice time. Each group will have no more than four skaters, allowing for focused, detailed coaching for each skater.

Joanna has more than a decade of experience teaching group learn-to-skate and private figure skating and hockey skating skills, and is a former learn-to-play-hockey instructor for Medfield Youth Hockey. Dina has more than 30 years' experience as a skating instructor and has taught hundreds of youth players over her career, including running summer skills sessions for the Junior Bruins.

Joanna and Dina are Category A-rated coaches through USFS and are registered coaches through USA Learn to Skate, a skating skills partnership with USA Hockey.